Daniel Sylvester

Husband to Clara, and Father to Atticus and Avonlea. Lay elder at Cross Fellowship, and Director of Communications at @ACBC. Views and opinions are my own.

[Matthew Statler @StatlerMatthew]

We are at the phase of discourse in the biblical counseling conversation where everyone I don't like is a Fundy.

[Matthew Statler @StatlerMatthew]

If you can do counseling without the Holy Spirit, it is not biblical counseling!

If I use Freud’s methods, Freud gets the glory.
If I use Francine Shapiro’s methods, Shapiro gets the glory.
If I use Bowlby’s methods, Bowlby gets the glory.
If I use Skinner’s methods, Skinner gets the glory.

But if I use God’s prescribed means, God gets the glory!

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, LSB)

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

@mellyneuf Do you know why?

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

@DrKeithAEvans Your essay is like a drink of water after walking through a desert. Thanks for writing it.

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

There is a biblical solution to every problem. - Jay Adams

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

God’s work must be done God’s way in order to receive God’s reward.

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

So many good breakouts from the @acbc conference to catch up on.

• Body and Soul - Is There a Priority for Counseling Ministry? - Ernie Baker
• Fear is Not a Sin? - @seanperron
• How to Actually Redeem the Psychologies - @MarshallLAdkins
• How Professionalism Sabotages Biblical Counseling - @omri12
• Common Grace and Scientific Claims - Austin Collins
• Hanging Shingles - Biblical Counseling as Church Ministry and Not Professional Practice - Sam Stephens
• Why Can’t I Sleep - Matt Rehrer

[Sean Perron @seanperron]

Do biblical counselors embrace science? Yes. ✅

Do we believe medicine is a good gift? Yes. ✅

Do we believe Christians should get treatment for cancer? Yes. ✅

Do we believe brain tumors are a medical problem requiring medical attention? Yes. ✅

Do we believe truth exists outside the Bible? Yes. ✅

Do we believe the Bible has everything we need to address the matters of the heart? Yes. ✅

Do we believe counseling issues are matters of sanctification? Yes. ✅

Do we believe Jesus Christ can free addicts, comfort those in extreme suffering, bring peace to the anxious, give hope to the depressed, calm the angry, forgive the vile, restore broken homes, and transform anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord? Absolutely. ✅

Join us!

[Keith Evans @DrKeithAEvans]

@NeilShenvi “Clinically informed” does not merely mean “aware of clinical information.” All biblical counselors would affirm that. Rather, it means incorporating methods, techniques, and interventions derived from secular psychotherapy into the ministry of biblical counseling.

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

The new integrationists do not understand the purity and sufficiency of God’s Word. There would be no need for any other system if they did. It’s not that complicated.

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

@ethan_mwilliams Demonstrate how he bore false witness and you’ll have a point. Happy to share the audio so you have the full context if you’d like.

[Mark W. Williams @markwwill]

The one person that gets to define what a biblical counselor is, is the Holy Spirit.

—Heath Lambert

#acbc2026

[Sean Perron @seanperron]

There are a lot of hot takes tonight on X about Heath's talk at #ACBC2026. The difference between the social media world and the conference room is fascinating. People online didn't hear his talk, and yet they are pearl-clutching. The people in the room watched Heath preach and then gave a standing ovation afterward.

The people online didn't watch Heath cry on stage, but they are quick to cry foul. If you are rendering verdicts on a talk you haven't watched or heard, I recommend being slow to post and quick to hear instead.

[Mark W. Williams @markwwill]

There’s a fine line between coming BESIDE the church and working BESIDES the church.

—Samuel Stephens,
On Parachurch Ministries

#acbc2026

[Grace to You @gracetoyou]

Does secular psychology have a role in sanctification?

[Sean Perron @seanperron]

Long post about Fesko for those still following the topic...

Austin and I have been waiting for a long time for a substantial response to our review of Fesko’s recent work that was published in the "Journal of Biblical Soul Care" with @ACBC. Colin is a brother in Christ, and our families have prayed for each other over the past few years. The brief response below is mine (with Austin’s endorsement), and I am not speaking on behalf of Heath.

Introduction

Colin endorsed the book and is standing by his endorsement. So, if our claims are accurate about Fesko, Colin’s scholarly reputation is also at stake. Colin could have chosen to admit @jvfesko made errors; instead, he doubles down and defends Fesko’s work.

Colin believes Austin and I did not engage with the “core thrust” of Fesko’s book. This is absolutely correct. We stated that very clearly in our introduction and thesis. We sought to demonstrate that Fesko misrepresented the counseling material he cited. Fesko’s work falters in two fundamental respects. First, his insufficient familiarity with the fields of biblical counseling and integration weakens his argumentation. Second, his treatment of the authors with whom he does engage is repeatedly inaccurate and falls short of ordinary scholarly standards. These deficiencies are substantial. If the foundation is destroyed, what can Fesko do?

Fesko Misrepresents Integrationists

Colin fails to demonstrate how Austin and I are incorrect about Fesko’s scholarship. The integrationists Fesko cites say the opposite of what Fesko claims. Colin seeks to defend Fesko by saying he was not representing their arguments but rather giving an evaluation of a poor analogy the integrationists used.

The problem is…the integrationists don’t use the analogy the way Fesko says they do. In fact, the integrationists cited by Fesko literally say the opposite of what Fesko says they say. It is stunning! You can look up the quotations yourself or see the charts in our essay.

Additionally, there are no markers or signals in Fesko’s work indicating that he is evaluating/critiquing rather than restating. He's either a very subtle writer (which isn't necessarily a strength, especially in an Introductory/Survey work), or... he wasn't providing a critique (which is our claim).

Fesko Misrepresents Jay Adams

Colin cites Adams saying, “The Christian minister must be willing (and able) to assume the full task to which God has called him: that of ministering to men and women who suffer from the pains and miseries that stem from personal sins.”

Colin then says, “Is it not logical to conclude from this that Adams believed that all counseling problems stem from personal sins? In discussing Christian counseling, he described the ‘full task’ of the Christian minister as ‘ministering to men and women who suffer from the pains and miseries that stem from personal sins.’”

1. This statement from Adams does not undo all the other statements made by Adams that blatantly contradict Fesko. See our essay or chart for a clear example.

2. Colin is correct that it could be logical to conclude from that one statement that Adams believed all counseling problems stem from personal sin…except that Adams, in the same book, says they do not: “It is difficult for some to acknowledge personal sin as the root and cause of most of the day-by-day counseling problems that arise.” Adams, Jay E.; Zondervan. The Christian Counselor's Manual: The Practice of Nouthetic Counseling (emphasis mine, p. 136).

3. In the sentence Colin quotes, Adams says we should comfort people who have experienced the “pains and miseries that stem from personal sins.” Adams does not say (as Fesko asserts) that it is personal “unconfessed” sin. A counselee can experience suffering due to another’s personal sin.

4. The practice of counseling ministry demonstrates that the suggestion is fundamentally false. Adams knows there are counseling situations that require wisdom that does not simply identify unconfessed sin as the issue (pp. 259–260). For example, pre-engagement counseling is a ministry. Is helping a couple decide if they should get married a counseling problem that is the result of unconfessed sin? Maybe…but maybe not! Providing biblical wisdom is what counseling is all about, and I have never met a biblical counselor who thought unconfessed sin was the main issue in every counseling problem.

5. Colin wants to defend Fesko by explaining a possible distinction between the word “counseling” and “counselee.” This is creative, but in keeping with the maneuvers Colin makes to justify Fesko’s writings. They are the same kind of movements a press secretary makes when a president has said something truly bizarre or indefensible. It is hermeneutical yoga that makes others uncomfortable and stretches the plain reading of the text to the point of distortion.

In summary: Adams is in print repeatedly saying the opposite of what Fesko claims. Additionally, at one point he sat behind his desk and literally shouted repeatedly into the camera, “NOT ALL PROBLEMS ARE THE RESULT OF SIN!” Colin’s quotation of Adams does not disprove this reality.

Fesko Misrepresents Heath Lambert and John Frame

Austin and I point out that Fesko mischaracterizes John Frame and Heath Lambert. It is a true butchering of what they have written in print. Fesko’s critique addresses a position that Lambert expressly rejects on the very page Fesko cites. Biblical counselors do not claim that the Bible is a technical manual for plumbing, aerospace engineering, medicine, or any other vocation. Plumbing is not a ministry of the Word. Counseling is the private ministry of the Word.

Colin writes, “This is beside the point. Fesko’s argument is that Lambert and Frame have made a category error in the way they frame the doctrine of sufficiency.” However, our point is that Fesko has completely misread Lambert and Frame. That was literally our thesis. It isn’t just a misreading that is incidental to Fesko’s argument. Fesko’s argument doesn’t work because he doesn’t understand what Lambert and Frame are saying about sufficiency. How can Fesko evaluate what he doesn’t understand? How can Fesko determine that Lambert and Frame are out of bounds with the Reformed tradition when he thinks they wrote something they did not?

Conclusion

Colin is outspokenly not committed to Van Til’s presuppositional apologetic. However, an argument for presuppositionalism can be found in Colin’s reading of Fesko. Colin’s response only makes sense if one determines in advance that Fesko must be right.

The Fesko scholar-ship is sinking. Now is the time to bail instead of going down with the ship. To sink with it is admirable in one sense, but it is a real loss in the most important sense. The world would be better if the biblical counseling department at Southern Seminary were strong and serious about counseling scholarship. Sadly, this is not the world we are living in. Fesko’s book is an embarrassment to the “academy,” and defending it taints credibility.

Epilogue

A recent @SBTS graduate (who likes Fesko’s work) did not like our review of Fesko’s book because it wasn’t approved by the “academy” or “peer-reviewed” according to the proper channels that have been approved by man. This is regrettable because, instead of engaging our thesis, he chose to dismiss it in favor of his preferred structure. He chose structure rather than substance. Will he also find the same problems with Colin, who is an @SBTS professor?

I want to defend Colin on this point with great enthusiasm. It does not bother us that Colin did not “peer-review” his response. His response wasn’t even in a journal. He did not pursue the “proper academic channels.” But what matters are the arguments. We hope his students will not find fault with him over these inconsequential matters.

[Michael Reeves @mike_reeves]

Thank God, often and always. Pride and gloom do not grow easily in a thankful heart.

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

For months, social media has been flooded with warped interpretations of soul care, defenses of the professionalization of discipleship, and historical reinterpretation. It will be refreshing to gather at a conference where clear, fundamentally biblical truths are remembered and the God who established them is worshiped.

[Daniel Sylvester @DanielSylv1]

In two weeks, thousands of biblical counselors from all over the world will gather together at the #ACBC2026 conference to open their Bibles, study the fundamentals of biblical counseling, and celebrate our history.